San Francisco

Today, Friday, we were late leaving the hotel.  There is no laundry on site, so Eric went to the local laundromat as soon as he'd had breakfast with a huge load to do (there was so much to do, he had to bring some back unfinished).  I'm pleased he went - he said on the way back, he went past one guy on the phone to, he presumes, his ex - Eric said there were a lot of colourful words coming out of the man's mouth.  And, there are a few odds and sods leaning on walls and lying on the ground in our neighbourhood.  The receptionist told Eric when we checked in to ensure there was nothing left in the car.

The streets are fairly messy here - cigarette butts, rubbish, dog poo, etc - and there are a lot of eccentric people around.  We are noticing it more here than elsewhere.

Eventually we walked to the Visitor Information Centre and bought a CityPass - unlimited travel on buses, trolleys, trams and the cable cars for 7 days plus admission to a number of attractions.  We used the pass straight away - trolley tram to Pier 39.  We saw the sea lions - the larger yet lighter Steller's sea lion and the smaller and darker California sea lion.  The pier is home to about 700 of the sea lions all up.  They were incredibly noisy, and somewhat smelly.

Next was a 1 hour Bay cruise, using one of our CityPass tickets.  It was fully narrated, and went out under the Golden Gate Bridge then around Alcatraz.  We passed by a lot of the waterfront and learnt about different areas, including the forts on either side of the bay.  The Golden Gate bridge is over 1 mile long, and was designed to withstand 100 mile an hour winds.  Alcatraz (pelican in Spanish) was first settled by Indians.  The military established a fort there, but converted it to a military prison in the Civil War, recognising it for its bleakness and isolation.  In 1934, it become a maximum security prison, and during its 29 years, had no official escapes - although 4 prisoners remain unaccounted for.  Apparently, when the first prisoners were transferred to The Rock, they were left chained in their train carriages and the carriages went straight onto barges to the island - they were not allowed to step foot on free soil.  There was no fresh water on Alcatraz, so 3 times a week, water was barged across to the island and stored in a high water tank.  There was a power house on the island too - there were no cables going to or from the island (which might have aided a prisoner's escape).

After the boat cruise, we walked to Fisherman's Pier and looked at the old arcade games in one of the sheds - many games are from the early 1900s, and, with a quarter or two, still work today.  We looked in at Scoma's, a seafood restaurant recommended to us by Lawrence Sambardo, but were not convinced the boys would appreciate it - we may try the $5 bar menu there on Monday afternoon - Karl has said he would be willing to try the clam chowder.

We went to the Marine Park National Park visitor centre, and looked at the displays on shipping and coastal wrecks and shipbuilding while the boys worked on yet another Junior Ranger badge (there are about 401 National Parks, so the boys only have 396 more to go!).

Then, a look through the Ghirardelli chocolate shops (a free chocolate on entry to each of them) and the original chocolate machines before a long, cold, windy wait to board a cable car to Chinatown, the largest Chinatown outside of China.  Very colourful.  We had dinner at a Dim Sum restaurant, before heading back to our hotel by way of cable car then trolley bus.